Machine for cleaning railroad-ballast.



H. D. PRATT. MACHINE FOR CLEANING RAILROAD BALLAST.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- I3 IQIT. 1,272,849 Patented July 16, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING RAILROAD BALLAST.

APPLICATION FlLED NOV-l3. I917.

, v r A I Q 3 I 1 \QQ N M N R I N o 00 Q I v I21 f a H E Q i f l Q g f j a: g Y bi m xkg QT: I J P [5% T R k s F J LQRJEIETELQ 695 n v 5 N L v\ L i w. v d E I' F N la *I w 7 i 3 I Mfi 8 1% l 11 f Q l I N Q N v N Q m w Ina/371501?- 3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Patented July 16, 1918.

H. D. PRATT.

MACHINE FOR CLEANING RAILROAD BALLAST.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. I3. 1917.

1 72,849 Patented July 16, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3A I Philadelphia,

" following is a specification.

through the 1 provide HOWELL n PRATT,

- COMPANY,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, I-IownLL D. PRATT, a citizen of the United States, residing in Pennsylvania, have invented in Machines for certain Improvements which. the

Cleaning Railroad-Ballast,- of

One object ,of my invention is to construct a machine for mechanically cleaning or screening railway ballast. v

A further object of the invention is to ama'chine which can be located between the two tracks of a railroad so as to remove and screen the ballast at the point between the two tracks and also that raked into the space from between the ties. A' still further. object of the invention is to design the machine so that the material screened from the ballast can be readily removed and deposited outside of the limits of the track or into cars.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is .a longitudinal sectional view through the roadbed showing -myimprovedv ballast cleaning machine in operation;

Fig. 2 is-a plan view; and Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view end of the machine.

Referring tothe drawings, 1 is the ordi- ,nary' stone ballast of a railway. -2 are the the other, and'in order to remove ties and 3 are the rails of the tracks. These tracks are spaced a given distance apart, leaving a clear space between the ends of .the ties, as shown, and thls space is usually stone ballast, as well as the space of each track. been placed in the becomes filled an extent that one against this dirt and cinders it has been the common practice to use manually operated forks for lifting the ballast and for sifting the dirt and cinders from the stone. By the use of my invention, the sifting by manual labor is entirely eliminated.

In the present instance, 4 are angle bars which form the rails on which my improved apparatus is supported. These rails can be permanently attached to the ties or they can be made removable, as desired, and while 'I' have shown angle bars the rails, may. be made of wood, or other suitable material.

filled with betweenthe several ties After the ballast has spaces between the ties, it, with dirt and cinders to such the stones do not bind properly,

I Specification of Letters Patent.

- members outer edge of the which readily pass under the ballast so as roadbed, showing the front -the front end of screenare UNITED sT T Es raannr m or PHILADELPHIA,PENNSYLVANIA, 'Assrenon To LINK-BELT .or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

MACHINE roe CLEA ING RAILROAD-BALLA S T E Patented July 16, 1918.

Application filed November 13, 1917, Serial no. 201,769.

'5' are flat wheels, in the present instance, which are mounted on axles 6, support1ng the lower frame 7 of my improved machine. Supported on this lower frame is an upper frame 8 connected to the lower frame by- 9 at the rear end and by diagonal 10 at the forward end, in the pres- The construction may vary with the' type of machine. Mounted on the forward end of the frame are brackets 11, carrying a shaft 12 onwhich are the bearings 13 for carry the bucket elevator. A cross anglebeam llfl-in the present instance, is secured to th e beams 14, and rests on the ends uprights ent instance.

This chain passes around a sprocket wheel 17 mounted on a shaft 18 carried by bearings 19 on the lower ends" of the beams 14. Secured to the chain at intervals are buckets 20 for receiving the ballast, and at the buckets are fingers *21,

to loosen the stones-thus allowing them to pass freely into the buckets. The buckets discharge the stone, cinders, and other dirt, onto a screen 22, arranged at an, incline directlyback of the bucketv elevator, and this screen can be agitated in any suitable manner so as to separate the cinders from the stones of the ballast. The stones are discharged from the rear of the screen into the trench formed by the machine, and the cinders, and other dirt, in the present instance, fall into a box- 23, or other suitable receptacle, under the machine. I In the present instance, the box is supported by stirrups 24, pivoted to the frame, so that when the boxis filled-the operator can. detach the box by moving the stirrups from under the box. Access may be had to the box from the machine by raising the elevator sufficiently and it may be held in its raised position by an suitable means.

The screen, in the present instance, consists of a fixed frame 25, in which the screen itself is movably mounted, and attached 'to this angle bars 26 in which are threaded studs 27 to limit the u ward movement of said screen, caused by t c release of the coiled springs 28 after being compressed by the cam wheels 31 mounted on the shaft the diagonal beams 1 1,'which '70 ofthe frame 7 and limits the downward Y movement of the elevator.

32. These springs are carried by brackets 29 hung from the side members of the frame 25 of the screen, and on the screen are rollers 30, two at each side, in the present instance,

v motor 39, although it will be understood that wheel 42 on the'shaft 12.

- any suitable motor may be used to drive the mechanism. The elevator is driven through a chain 40, which passes. around a sprocket wheel 41 on the shaft 35 and a sprocket It will be understood, however, that while I have shown in dotted lines one arrangement for-driving the mechanism the mechanism may be driven in any suitable manner and by any suitable motor without departing from the essential features of the invention. The operation of the machine is as follows: i k

If it be desired to clean the ballast of a double track road, the rails 4 for the machine are located in position on the ties,"as

shown. Then, a certain portion of the ballast is excavated and the maclnne is located n the excavated P0111011. The machine can be moved forward by hand, or it may be driven by power, if desired. The elevator is drii'en from the motor 39, and the buckets dig into the ballast in front of the machine and carry the detached particles of the ballast over the head of the elevator and discharge them onto the screen, and, as the screen is agitated, the material flows downv on the screen and the fine dust and cinders are separated from the stone, falling onto the box, or other receptacle, 23, while the l stones are discharged into the trench at the rear of the machine. 7

This machine not only cleans the ballast in the space between the tracks, but also in the space betweenthe ties of the two tracks, by an operator raking the ballast from the space between the ties to a position in the 1. The combination in -a machine for ClQalL- ing ballast, of a frame arranged to travel in the clear space between the tracks of a double track railway; means on said frame for removing the ballast from the roadbed; means for screening the ballast and returning it to the roadbed, the entire mechanism belng located on the frame in such position that'trains can pass on either track without interfering with the frame and the mechanism carried thereby., r

2. The combination in a machine for cleaning railroad ballast, of rails independent of the rails of the track and mounted 011 the projecting ends of the ties; a frame less in width than the space between the ties and having wheels arranged to travel on the rails; means on the frame for removing the ballast from the roadbed; means for screen ing the ballast and returning it to the roadbed; and means, carried by the frame, for receiving the fine materialremoved from the ballast, the frame and its mechanism being of such a width and height as to be within the clear space between the cars traveling on the two tracks.

3. The combination in a machine for cleaning ballast, of two tracks arranged side by side; rails on the adjoining ends of the ties of. each track; and a frame having wheels adapted to the rails and located in the clear space between the cars traveling on the two tracks, said frame carrying means for cleaning the ballast between the tracks.

In witness whereof I afiix my signature.

HOWELL n. PRATT. 

